A Second Chance
by shy-twinee
Summary: A short one-shot about what happened to Marie Levesque after her and Hazel's deaths. This was originally written as a short assignment for one of my classes while I was in the mood for Heroes of Olympus. Please be gentle on me.


A Second Chance

A _Heroes of Olympus_ fanfic

 **Author's Note**

 _A quiet place. Enter_ _ **shy-twinee**_ _looking extraordinarily_ _guilty._

 **shy-twinee:** _*politely bows*_ Welcome to everyone reading this page. I know, I know. It has been a very, very long time since I posted anything. I'm giving some serious thought into finishing my other stories, so I decided to post up this one-shot I made for a class assignment some years ago. The assignment was simply to make up a story involving a shapeshifter, and since I had to do it about a week before _The House of Hades_ was released I decided to write something _Heroes of Olympus_ related. It's really short but I hope you all find some sort of enjoyment reading it. Oh, and please excuse my errors.

 _Blackout._

 _ **Line Break**_

For a very long while I roamed the ghostly Fields of Asphodel, in search of my daughter, Hazel Levesque. I didn't care how much time passed or that I would search for an eternity and never ever find her. Because of the horrible things I did, I knew that my soul was supposed to be condemned to the Fields of Punishment and not Asphodel. Only my precious Hazel would have pleaded to save me from eternal damnation. I had to find and thank her, and tell her once again about how sorry I was for causing her so much pain.

One day while searching the faces of the other purple ghosts around me, I caught sight of the goddess wearing dark grey. I would see her every once in a while but recently she had been appearing often. This time, however, she approached me and guided me under one of the poplar trees.

"Marie Levesque, for over seventy years you have searched for your daughter. What are you willing to do for me if I help you?" she said in an oddly balanced harsh and kind voice.

I was ready to shout out "Anything!" but I hesitated. The last time I trusted the voice of a goddess, it was a disaster. The goddess smiled.

"You are right to be cautious. I am Nemesis, goddess of vengeance, balance and retribution. And you, Marie Levesque, have been chosen to make amends for your ill deeds by becoming one of my dispensers of retribution."

"What would become of me if I succeed?" I asked, wanting to learn more. "And why have I been chosen?"

"You will win the chance to be reunited with your daughter, of course. I chose you because you were fully repentant before you died. So strong was your resolve to apologize to Hazel that you retained your life's memories here in Asphodel while most other souls do not. Do you accept?"

I realized then that I was being offered a second chance. Taking a deep breath, I replied "yes." Nemesis waved her hand in front of my face and everything became dark.

 _ **Line Break**_

Sometime later, I awoke to the sound of beeping and the muffled voice of a man.

"The surgery was a success. All of the oil has been safely removed from her lungs. She has a broken leg and a few damaged ribs, but she should be fully healed in about two months with proper care."

Someone spoke back but the pain in my side momentarily distracted me. I opened my eyes and found myself in a pleasantly lit room. To my right was an odd piece of machinery making the beeping sound. Wires were connected to it that looked like they led toward where I was. I sat up and looked at myself. I was shocked to find myself in the body of a German shepherd dog and tried to scream.

My scream came out as a loud bark.

The room door opened and a gentleman in a white coat, a doctor perhaps, hurried in followed by a young lady who painfully resembled my precious Hazel. The doctor carefully walked over as if not to frighten me. He checked the strange equipment attached to me.

He turned to the young lady and said, "She's fine. Probably just woke up startled to be in an unfamiliar place."

The young lady came to me and rubbed my head. "I'm so glad you're alright! You were nearly dead when I found you in that collapsed mine."

When she touched me, I realized that she was my reason for being here as a dog. Nemesis wanted me to help her in some way.

She asked the doctor, "Can I please adopt her?" She gently hugged my head and I nuzzled her to show the doctor he should say "yes." After a few minutes, he gave his consent and left with her to do "paper work." A while later the young lady returned. Taking my right front paw in her right hand, she shook it and introduced herself as Gem.

"Now we need a name for you." She thought for a few minutes while looking at me. "How about Marie? I have a funny feeling that it fits you."

I laughed as best as a dog could and she joined in. A week later the doctor checked me over one last time and I left to live with Gem.

 _ **Line Break**_

To my surprise, Gem lived in the same tiny apartment Hazel and I lived in many years ago. Just like us, Gem wasn't fortunate enough to have many luxurious items and only had necessities. Everything for my needs was generously supplied by the kind doctor and Gem took special care of my things and ensured that I was recovering well. I spent the first three weeks resting my injuries while learning more about Gem to see how I could possibly provide her with some assistance. Ultimately, while she was gone some days I tidied up the apartment for her and provided dinner with my discovered magical abilities. My abilities were limited. The more I used them, the less I had and the longer it would take to recharge. I tried to keep as much magic saved up as I could to help with bigger issues such as when Gem needed extra money for her nightly school classes or to pay the rent.

 _ **Line Break**_

I had been living with Gem for well over three years. In all that time she never discovered my secret but I'm sure she felt I had something about me that was strange. She did question where the good fortune was coming from but never tried to unmask the mystery. She merely thanked God every day for it and continued to live simply and worked hard each day, grateful for life.

There was one day in particular where we were at the park and she lost her high school class ring, one of her most precious items. Not only was it very expensive but it also held memories of her teachers who bought the ring for her. She had a few ideas as to where she dropped it. We split up to search. I wished my precious Hazel was there with me. She would have been able to find it quickly with her power to summon precious stones and metals from the ground. This power was given to her because of my selfishness. I wanted all the riches under the earth because I hated being poor. At first the power was a blessing but it became a curse and I wrongly blamed Hazel and her father for this. The horrible memory of my ill deeds overwhelmed me with grief. I lied on my belly and began to sulk.

Someone touched my head and I thought it was Gem, but when I looked up I was staring at the face of the god I had fallen in love with: Pluto, Hazel's father and the god of the dead and wealth. He was as handsome as ever. He reached into his pocket and brought out Gem's missing ring and gently placed it on the ground in front of me.

"You are doing well, Marie. I hope you get into Elysium one day and eventually find Hazel," Pluto said with encouragement. "Hazel has also returned here to the realm of the living to fulfill her destiny. The fate of the world currently rests in the success of her and her friends." He had the sad and worried look of a father on his face. He truly cared for Hazel.

His words made me worry for our daughter as well. I gently nudged him with my nose, letting him know that I fully believed in Hazel. Pluto, in return, gave me one of his rare genuine smiles.

"Marie?" Gem's voice called out to me.

Pluto rubbed my head again. "Farewell, Marie." He slashed the air in front of him and disappeared, just like the last time I saw him seventy years ago.

I barked loudly so Gem would find me. When she saw her ring in front of me, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me.

To this very day I am living out my second chance at life wisely, patiently waiting to embrace my precious Hazel once again.

 _ **Line Break**_

 **Author's Note**

 _A quiet place. Enter_ _ **shy-twinee**_. _._

 **shy-twinee:** Ugh, reading this story again after so long makes me cringe. I remember that it took me a few hours to come up with an idea, so by the time I started writing it was about 11:30 pm and I wasn't finished until close to 2:00 am. But anyway, thanks for reading!

 _Blackout._


End file.
